Stitching-jack for boots or shoes



Nirnn Sintes artnr trice'.-

JOSHUA F. AMES, OF ROCKLAND, MASSACHUSETTS.

`STITcHme-JACKFOR BOOTS OR SHOES.

SPECIFICATION formingpart of Letters Patent No. 291,661, dated January 8, 1884.-

applicati@ fnea November 12, resa. (No model.)

To all wlw/1t t may concern:

y Be it known that I, JOSHUA F. AMES, of Rockland, county of Plymouth State of Massachusetts, have invented an Improvement in Boot and Shoe Stitching Jack, of which lthe a rotating head, having a heel and toe rest,

lasts of different shapes.

preferably made `adjustable with relation to each other and also as to their length, to adapt the same to shoes of different lengths and to Co-operating with said head which holds the last and shoe is a sole-presser, which rests in the channel near,`

the stitching-point, the supports for the said head and the sole-presser being forced toward each other in such manner as to cause the `last and sole-presser to act as a clamp to force the sole and welt together closely near the stitch-` ing-point and hold them together rmly while therstitch is being made, thus preventing the sole from sliding or` moving on or with relation to the welt, as is apt to be the case when a shoe-maker, .making a welted shoe by hand, is making holes through the welt and sole by `ahand-operated awl.

When a shoe-makersoles a welted boot'or shoe, as usual, by hand, he places the thumb of his left hand against the sole near its edge,

to thus form a support for the sole near that point from which the point of the awl, held in the right hand of the operator, is to emerge `after having been passed through the welt.

In this hand method the pressure of the thumb is insufficient to -hold the sole with sufficient firmness while the awl is being forced through the welt and sole, to prevent the Welt and sole l when such holes are filled in with thread and drawn taut, fail to draw the sole and welt tof` gether` properly; and, as the shoe is used in walking, the sole will move on the welt, owing to imperfect joining7 and the movement of the sole will soon act to cut off the stitches hold,

`stitching-jack embodying my invention, the

hand wheel or plate against which the arm m* bears during its movement being broken out to show the said arm baclrof it, the frame part of the machine being also broken apart, and the lower part thereof containing the treadles being carriedforward to save space upon the drawing; and Fig. 2 is a section of Fig. l on the dotted lines as x, the sole-presser cut off at the right of such section-line being, however, shown in dotted lines, y

The frame-work A has a suitable bearing, a, for the spindle b, iiattened at its end to enter a recess, 40, made in the curved base 21 of the cross-bar b2 of the head, the said spindle and the curved base ofthe `bar b2 being connected by the part b', and the spindle being surrounded by a spiral spring, b", and a nut, b5. The spring b4 permits the spindle to be moved longitudinally. The outerlend of the spindle b is acted upon by the toe c2 of a lever, c, pivoted at c, the said lever having its long end attached by link ca to a pivoted treadle, ci, the rear end of which is acted upon by a projection from one side of lthe pivoted lever c?, having the foot-piece c6. The cross-bar 62 has adjustably pivoted upon it at b3 the heelrest d, having, as herein shown, a heel-pin, dz, which is made to enter the last d. The heelrest d is made adjustable by the pivoted screw d* and nut d5. The toe-rest e is made adjustable in the direction of its length by the screw c in the part e2, the latter in turn being ad- IOO The sole-presser m, composed of a rod having at its end a lip, m', to enter thechannel h2, is

adjustably attached to the socket m2 by screw m3, and the socket is pivoted on the arm m", the hub 14 of which is placed loosely on the hub of the hand wheel or plate 10, so that the said arm may be turned by the operator about the said hub as a center when it is desired to raise and lower the sole-presser or change its position to adapt it to the changing position of the channel as the shoe is moved to be stitched, the lip of the presser entering the channel h2 near the point where the awl is to emerge from it, and preferably from one to twelve stitches distant. The hub 14 is splined to slide on the slide-rod a. The arm m4 is retained on the sleeve of the hand-wheel by the` collar 16. The slide rod a, vsupported in bearings a a, suspended from the plate n3, and splined, as at 6, so as to slide but not rotate in its bearings, is provided with an adj ustable-nut and a spring, a5, which latter acts to hold the sole presser m against the sole when the awl is being forced through the Welt and sole, or, as the awl-holes, if previously made by a machine such as described in United States Letters Patent No. 191,387, are being opened, by an awl for the reception of the waxed thread. The force by which the sole-presser is held against the sole is meas` ured by the strength of the spring a5, and may be adjusted by the nut at. This sliderod is provided with a series of notches, 13, one of which is entered by a latch, 12, pivoted at 17, on the hand-wheel. Changing the latch from one to another notch 13 enables the hand-wheel and sole-presser to be placed nearer to or farther from the end of the sliderod, according to the requirements of the last and shoe thereon. A boot or shoe having been applied to the head, as inthe drawings, the operator will press upon the foot part o of the treadle o', so that its shorter arm will rise and act against the rear end of the lever o2, depressing its front end, which is joined. with the rod o?, attached to the elbow-lever o", pivoted at of", and having its opposite end resting against the slide-rod a. Depressionof the lever or treadle o will cause theslide-rodtobe moved tothe left, Fig. 2, carrying the solepresser m with it away from thefsole, and'compressing the spring a5. This done the operator will engage the sole-presser Aand raise or lower it to place the lipv m" thereofat the proper height to enter the channel a short distance from that part of the sole where the awl is next to be driven through the welt and sole. The head c, which holds the boot or shoe, the said head being composed of the parts c e2 Ifl cl cl2, is pivoted at b on the end of a rod, b, held-in the bearing a.. The rod bis surrounded by the spring b, backed up bya nut, b5. The spring bt acts to draw the curved base 21 of the bar bzinto a slot made in the face ofthe socketpiece 22, interposed between the said curved base 21` and the upright A2.y The curved base of the bar b2 may be turned in the slotA of the said-socket-piece about the pivot b when itis desired to move the boot or shoe in t-he direction of the length of the sole; but before this is done the rod must be pushed to the left, viewing Fig. 2, far enough to remove the curved base 2l from its seat in the socket-piece 22. This may be done by means of the elbow-lever c, pivoted at c', and joined by rod c3 with a treadle, ct, the rear end of vwhich is elevated by a projection from the rear end of the lever c5, having a foot-pad, c6. Vhile the rod b is pushed forward by the lever c, the latter is removed from its engagement with a notch of the nut b5, at which time the entire head may be rotated, if desired, the rod b turning in the bearing a. and the levervc, pressed up by the spring 24, engages one of a series of notches in the nut, and locks the same and the rod. To prevent the waxed end 25 from being caught under the wheel or plate 10, I have connected a stra-p or wire, 20, with the rod a and the bed 26; or it might bethe floor. in the line of the channel, may be pressed very closely against the welt and upper, between it and the last, so that as the operator forces the awl through the welt and sole neither of the two latter can move, but beth will be held forced together very closely, much more closely than is possible in hand-work with the most skilled or best workman. After having taken several stitches, the workman will put his foot on the treadle o and relieve the pressure of the sole-presser in the channel sufficiently to release the pressure of the same on the shoe to permit the head and shoe to loe moved,. and the sole-presser to be placed in another part ofthe channel, as may bev necessary. The pressure exerted upon the welt and outer sole near the stitching-point will be such, as to bend the sole and welt slightly toward the vamp while the awl is being used and the stitch is being drawntaut, as the edge ot'l the sole, when the latter is rounded and finished after stitching, willy occupy substantially such position, this provision enabling The nut ZD fits the rod b closely,

The sole, held as described IOO IIO

the line of stitching in the finished shoe and the welt at the point where the stitches pass through it to be close to the vamp. Thepivot 19 permits the sole-presser to be moved laterally to keep its lip in the channel as the shoe or boot is rotated or vibrated. The nut b5 is notched, so that it is locked by the leverc, as in Fig. 2, when the foot is removed from the treadle c5.

I claim 1. In a hand stitching-jack, a rotating head to hold the upper and sole, combined with the sole-presser to enter the channel in the outer sole, substantially as described.

2. In a hand stitching-jack, a rotating and vibrating head'and sole-presser to bear against the outer sole, combined'with means, substantially as described, to force the head and solepresser toward each other to clamp the sole and welt closely together at the point Where the holes are opened for the reception of the thread, substantially as described. Y

3. In a hand stitchingjack, the rotating `to be removed therefrom, substantiallyr as described.

` the same, whereby its position may be changed spring to move it in one direction, and means,

head to hold the 1ast,wth the upper and sole thereon, combined with the sole-presser, and means substantially as described, to support With relation to the axis of rotation of the head to enable the said presser to bear up on the sole near its edge as the last and shoe are rotated, as set forth. f

4.In a hand stitchingjack, the rotating and vibrating jack, `and the loosely-pivoted sole-presser, combined with the slide-rod, a

substantially as described, to move it in the opposite direction to enable the said presser to be held in the channel of the outer sole or JOSHUA F. AMES.

I/Vitnesses:

G. W. GREGORY, B. J. NoYEs. 

